


And He Is

by bar2d2s



Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3929746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His name is Bart, and he is...</p>
            </blockquote>





	And He Is

His name is Bart, and he is young.

The world is so confusing, in his eyes, and moves far too slowly. When his mother runs her hand through his hair, it takes a year, and he squirms to get away. To help him adapt, his family put him into his own virtual universe, that moved and changed as fast as his mind could grow bored. For a while, it was fun. But because he rarely sees the same person twice, after so, so long, a deep ache begins to form in his heart. He misses his mother.

His name is Bart, and he is dying.

When his grandmother stole him away to the past, she lost him. He ran for ages, scared and confused. All these sights and sounds, the VR hadn’t prepared him for any of this. The wind on his face is exhilarating  A man tackles him, somehow, and he fights back. The man is his cousin. His grandmother sent him, to save his life. Wally and Linda and Jesse and Jay and Max welcome him into their self-built family. The ache lessens.

His name is Bart, and he is impulsive.

Max calls him that, impulsive. Wally had called him that, too. So he takes the word. Owns it. And the poster child for Ritalin becomes Impulse, the fastest boy alive. Wally has no time for him. Max takes him to another state entirely, for ‘training’. He makes friends, sort of, but they can’t ever know his secret. The ache comes back, worse than before.

His name is Bart, and he is friendly.

Carol knows. Max lets her, because it’s  _Carol_. He has friends his own age now, mini capes and cowls. They who will inherit the Justice League. They form a League of their own, and it is glorious. He sees space, fights aliens, goes after the bad guy. He gets hurt. Badly. Impulse is dead.

His name is Bart, and he is alone.

He’s moving. Carol is gone, Max is gone, the team is…not gone. But he can’t go back. When they look at him, they see a dead boy. Wally still doesn’t want him. Jesse is too busy. So he goes with Jay. He likes Jay, and Joan too. It’s like how he imagined living with his grandmother would be like. Jay teaches him about his powers, continues where Max left off. Joan bakes cookies. He thinks he likes Joan best.

His name is Bart, and he is injured.

Slobo is dead. Donna is dead. Lilith is dead. Wally doesn’t have any faith in him. Young Justice is finished. But Jay needs him around, and that’s good enough. Months later, an eternity, they put the band back together. Teen Titans. No one told Anita, or Greta, or Cissie. Not like they would have joined, though. He just misses the old times. A gun. A threat. A second of hesitation. Pain, more than he’s ever felt before. And then…healing. Learning. Growing. He’s more, now.

His name is Bart, and he is a sidekick.

He hadn’t wanted to be Kid Flash, at first. Wally was a jerk, and that would make him his sidekick. Now…well. Wally’s still a jerk, but he expects more from him. Gives him responsibilities. They fight side by side, as partners. Back in California, he has his friends to lean on. He’s never been so happy.

Darker days are coming, close on the horizon.

He’s never been so happy.


End file.
